Battery Shortage Dims the Lights on Jaguar I-Pace Production
Jaguar Land Rover is reportedly putting I-Pace production on hold for a week thanks to a battery shortage at supplier LG Chem.
While sales of the model are ridiculously low in North America, European deliveries average about 1,000 units per month. That’s comparable to the Audi e-Tron, which also suffered production delays due in part to its relationship with the supplier. Before that, Hyundai was the one pointing the finger at LG Chem after running out of batteries for the Ioniq EV.
According to The Times, Jaguar Land Rover will have Magna Steyr stall assembly until February 17th. The automaker said the delay stems from LG Chem’s battery factory in Poland, but did not elaborate on what caused the shortage. There’s a chance this could be a pricing issue, similar to the one Audi contended with in 2018, though nothing is confirmed other than supply chain problems and an absence of batteries at the I-Pace’s assembly plant in Graz, Austria.
It might seem strange that such a low-volume model is running into supply problems, but LG’s history with automakers is semi spotty. There’s also a chance that JLR didn’t need Magna Steyr humming along due to a lapse in demand and these convenient supply issues are simply an excuse to ease off. Unfortunately, JLR’s decision to move to quarterly reports makes this particular conspiracy theory difficult to confirm — as we’ve no sales data for the start of 2020.
I-Pace demand could have fallen into the toilet or shot through the roof. We won’t know for another month.
[Images: Jaguar Land Rover]
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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Perhaps the reason that Tesla dominates EVs is that they can actually manage their supply train.
The Jag I-Pace is one of my favorite EV's. The only thing fault I find is the infotainment system is laggy. Otherwise, it has decent range, reasonable packaging and a good size for real world uses. Price is fair for this market space and undercuts Porsche and e-tron when you factor in the discounts at dealers.